Proving that on Twitter, you’re always surrounded by assholes, Adam F. Goldberg, creator of ABC’s The Goldbergs, sparked controversy and spurred calls for a boycott after he criticized the president—specifically President Skroob, as played by Mel Brooks in Spaceballs. “My God, the President is completely and utterly broken! I can’t tell you how disappointed I am. This isn’t fixable, is it? #Skroob,” Goldberg wrote beneath a photo of a Dark Helmet action figure (presumably a custom job), its broken arm lying atop a prop can of Perri-Air.
While the denizens of Twitter would have had every right to call for the cancellation of Goldberg’s sitcom over the grievous sin of confusing Dark Helmet with President Skroob, many ignored the image and its hashtag entirely. Rather, they took the rare opportunity to chastise a liberal on the internet, somehow conflating Goldberg’s lament for a bumbling idiot of a leader—whose selfish drives for money, power, and diddling busty blondes, all while lying to the press and gravely endangering the air we breathe—with criticism of Donald Trump.
“He is your President. Stop being a liberal wuss and stick with show talk,” read one typical reply. “With all due respect, Potus is in complete control. He is fixing what W and O broke,” came another. For several days, Goldberg weathered a storm of criticism and threats to stop watching his show, along with losing more than 1,000 followers. Yet throughout it all, he bravely held fast to his convictions that President Skroob will steal our fresh air using a spaceship that transforms into a giant maid.
The controversy eventually made its way to The View, where the outrage of people allowing their own confirmation bias to turn a silly joke into a testy cacophony over the state of our political discourse was greeted with same.
And so we continue combing the social media desert, looking for one little thing that we can just enjoy without it all turning into pointless controversy—because so far, we ain’t found shit.